Europe adventures take toll on United

The statistics do not lie. The best time to have a genuine chance of beating Manchester United is the weekend following one of their Champions League matches.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson does not believe it. After the defeat by Middlesbrough, he said: 'We've come back from Europe many times and had great results. So it's not that.'

The record books say he is wrong, though. Three of United's five home Premiership defeats this season - against Bolton, West Ham and Boro, all matches you would expect them to win comfortably - have followed Champions League matches, against Boavista twice and Deportivo La Coruna.

Gary Neville suggested after this latest and most crushing setback that had United won those home bankers, then the nine points would have made their fourth successive title secure. As it is, the race looks over for them, and it seems as if Liverpool's approach to Europe might be the model to follow.

United have collected just 14 points from the 12 domestic matches that have followed Champions League games while, over the same period, Liverpool have amassed an impressive 34, with 11 wins and a draw.

Arsenal, similarly, have fared much better than United in matches immediately after European encounters. Their record is 24 points from 11 games. Interestingly, three of their worst slip-ups this season - home draws to Bolton and Blackburn and a Highbury defeat by Charlton - all followed Champions League games.

It may be no coincidence that Liverpool have carefully studied how to approach European matches, especially those abroad. One of their conclusions is that players must follow a strict routine if they are to prepare successfully for a Saturday league game after a match on the Continent.

Ferguson insists on his players flying home immediately after matches in Europe, even if they often arrive in Manchester in the middle of the night.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has, on the other hand, abandoned the practice, believing that a good night's rest in Rome, say, before a trek to Middlesbrough is preferable to a disrupted night.

The proof is in the results and United may care to re- examine their strategy, even if it is already too late for this season.

Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren, who, in his days as Ferguson's No.2, played such a key role in building up United's strength, must have felt like Brutus plunging the knife into Julius Caesar.

Despite his suggestion that what you need against United is luck and a few decisions going for you, Middlesbrough worked for their points.

Those overworked words 'character' and 'commitment' were mentioned time and again by the Boro boss - and this time they were relevant.

No one showed those qualities in greater measure than Benito Carbone, the bantamweight Italian who robbed a casual Juan Sebastian Veron to set up Alen Boksic's ninth-minute winner and then acted as a terrific link in midfield.

Ferguson said: 'He provided a terrific outlet for them.'

The irony is that McClaren would not have gone to Bradford to borrow him for the rest of the season had he not been beaten by United to the signature of Diego Forlan, who was largely anonymous alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy in the United attack.

McClaren insisted that his objective at The Riverside has been to build a side who are difficult to beat and it is no coincidence that Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu should both be in Sven Goran Eriksson's England squad for Wednesday's friendly against Italy.

The way they withstood United's second-half offensive was nothing short of heroic.

With that kind of resolve, Boro should achieve mid-table security without much anxiety, although they will now lose the inspirational Paul Ince for two games, one of them the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal.

His caution for an innocuous hand-ball was the harshest of ways to miss a decisive match late in a distinguished career and somewhat took the edge off victory for Boro.

With blind loyalty to his former employers, McClaren suggested the Premiership is still wide open. He said: 'There is time for other teams to slip up and I'm glad I'm not playing them next. There are still some twists and turns to come.'

The matter is now out of United's hands, however, and when they reflect on their season they might conclude that burning the midnight fuel in a Boeing somewhere over Europe was perhaps a costly business.